Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

On the afternoon of 3 May 2010, the bulk log carrier TPC Wellington was loading logs in Port Marsden, Northland. When the chief officer entered a cargo hold that was full of logs that had been loaded at a previous port, he rapidly lost useful consciousness (lost the ability to hold on to the ladder) and fell from the ladder onto the cargo below.

On Friday 9 April 2010, ZK-EAQ, a Beechcraft 1900D aeroplane, departed from Auckland International Airport. As the aeroplane became airborne the rear cargo door opened. The crew returned and landed the aeroplane safely. There were no injuries and minor damage only to the aeroplane.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau published their final report in to this accident on 14 October 2010. The ATSB report AO-2010-016 can be found on their website.

On 10 February 2010, ZK-TZR, a Cessna C208 aeroplane, had just taken off from Nelson Aerodrome on a scheduled commercial flight to Wellington when the pilots noticed a reduction in engine performance and a strong smell of fuel in the cabin. There were 2 pilots and 4 passengers on board at the time.

On 30 December 2009, an Aerospatiale-Alenia ATR 72-212A (ATR 72) aeroplane flying between Christchurch and Wellington encountered severe turbulence when about 50 nm north of Christchurch. Approximately 35 minutes later, another ATR 72 aeroplane, also flying from Christchurch to Wellington, encountered severe turbulence in the same general area.

At the time of this incident the Taharoa Express and the loading operation at Port Taharoa were unique. Iron ore (including ironsand) was normally loaded dry, with particular care needed to ensure that the cargo moisture content was below what was called its transportable moisture limit. The transportable moisture limit was the moisture level at which the cargo was said to be safe from liquefaction.

The Commission assisted the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in their investigation of this accident. The Australian report was released 30 August 2012 and is available on the Bureau's website (http://www.atsb.gov.au).

At about 1305 on 29 September 2009, ZK-CNS, a Piper Cherokee 6, took off from runway 28 at Great Barrier Aerodrome for a scheduled 30-minute flight to Auckland International Airport. On board were 5 passengers and the pilot.

On Saturday 5 September 2009 the Cessna 207 aircraft had been loaded with 5 passengers for a trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound. Owing to a faulty battery the aircraft would not start using the conventional key-start system.

ATC issues led to a loss of required separation and a near collision between a Cessna 182 parachute-drop aircraft with a single pilot on board and a Bombardier DHC-8 Q311 airliner with 3 crew and 31 passengers on board near Mercer on 9 August 2009. Both aircraft were operating as cleared by ATC when the airliner’s equipment detected the conflict and directed it away from a potential collision with the parachute-drop aircraft, which had just dispatched 4 parachutists and commenced its descent.

The King of Tonga established a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the capsize and sinking of the interisland ferry MV Princess Ashika on 5 August 2009, which resulted in 74 deaths and 54 survivors. The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission was asked to conduct a technical investigation and to provide a report to the Royal Commission to consider as one component of its own inquiry.

On the evening of Thursday 23 July 2009, the Wellington region was experiencing a storm that brought heavy rain and strong winds. At 1817, a scheduled commuter train travelling from Wellington to Masterton with approximately 240 passengers and crew in 5 carriages, collided with a slip that partially blocked the northern portal of Tunnel 1 on the Wairarapa Line. This point was about 4 km north of Upper Hutt station and about 1 km before the Maymorn station.